Understanding
by Winter-sama
Summary: E+T, almost pointless and almost plotless, almost mush and WAFF...almost...Tomoyo has the roomate from hell, can Eriol help? Chapter 2 posted...story's getting a little darker and sadder
1. Hello. I'm Satan, I'll be your new roomm...

** Author's note: Tomoyo-tachi are all in their second year of university, which, in my beautiful country, makes them about 20. Sakura and Syaoran went to a different university in Hong Kong. Eriol and Tomoyo both stayed in Japan. They are friends, but not particularly close. At least, not yet ::grins::  
Sorry if the characters all really OOC...but if you make it to the end of the story, you'll understand why...I hope. (also, how can you say they're really OOC, they're ten years older than they were in the manga or anime, people can change in ten years!! ::sticks out tongue at anyone who disagrees::)  
Please review!! I don't appreciate flames, but constructive criticism is good. None of us are perfect and I'd love any suggestions for improvement.  
**  
**Understanding  
  
** "AAAAAAAAAARGH!! Sakura, what am I going to do with her?!" wailed Tomoyo into the phone at her best friend.  
"I'm really sorry, Tomoyo, I just don't know what to tell you, you guys only have four months left together, try and make the best of it."  
Tomoyo rolled her eyes in frustration, "I am trying, I've done everything I can think of, I don't even know why she hates me. I haven't done anything!! Even her own boyfriend's told me that there's nothing I can do."  
Sakura sighed on her end. She really didn't know what to do. She wished that she could help more, but she was so far away, it really hurt her to know that her best friend was having such a horrible time with her roommate.  
"She's even started separating all her stuff from mine. She won't eat with my forks or knives, she won't drink from my glasses, even though she only has one of her own. I bought a brand new box of rice and she went out and bought another cause she won't eat anything I've bought. She's treating me like I've got leprosy or something. She hasn't said more than 3 civil things to me in over a month, even if I ask her a direct question, she just ignores me as though I'm not even there. Do you know what that's like?" Tomoyo felt the tears welling up in her eyes.  
"That's so petty," Sakura agreed in disgust, "just because something is yours, she won't go near it? Does she flip out if you touch something of hers?"  
"I haven't even tried, I'm scared of what she might do."  
"Why did you agree to live together then?"  
"She wasn't like this before. I don't understand, she was a really good friend, that's why this hurts so much--"  
"Tomoyo," Sakura interrupted, "Hang on, Syaoran's saying something."  
Tomoyo could here some talking in the background, then she heard her friend giggle slightly.  
"I think you'll appreciate this," she said, when she came back on the line, "You don't drink milk, right?"  
"Right..."  
"And she does, right?"  
"Uh huh, by the gallon. What's your point?"  
"Syaoran says that you should mix some Maalox into her milk," she snickered.  
"Sakura!" Tomoyo exclaimed in shock, first that her best friend could suggest such a thing, second because it was Syaoran of all people who thought of it in the first place. "That's evil!!"  
"I know," she grinned, looking at Syaoran who was grinning back. Then in the background she heard a door slam, then Tomoyo sigh.  
"She's back--" she was cut off by the sound of more doors slamming, the cupboards in the kitchen, then the bedroom door, then dresser drawers. "I should let you go," she sighed, despair tingeing her voice.  
"Call me if you need anything," Sakura answered, worry evident in her voice.  
"Sure, I'll talk to you later, okei?"  
"Yeah sure. Let me know if you want that bottle of Maalox. Ja ne!"  
Tomoyo grinned, "Ja ne!" then shook her head grinning, muttering evil under her breath.  
  
**********  
  
After Tomoyo hung up the phone, she started to tidy up her room. Within minutes, the sound of rhythmic stomping was coming from the bathroom. She rolled her eyes, and put her music on.  
Fifteen minutes later, the stomping was still going on, and Tomoyo was getting very, VERY annoyed. It was like this every time Valerie wanted her shower. You see, they lived together on the upper floor of a six bedroom house. While their part was a separate apartment, if one of the four boys living downstairs wanted a shower, or did laundry, than the apartment upstairs was left with no water. Tomoyo had just learned to either wait until they were done running water, or if she was in the shower already, she would put on her bathrobe, go downstairs and politely ask the boys to quit running water until she was finished. Val, on the other hand, would simply stomp. Considering the length of time she had been stomping, you can imagine how well it was NOT working. Unfortunately, there was not a whole lot Tomoyo could do, because anything she said to Val fell on deaf ears, or prompted the slamming of more doors, the playing of loud music or the spreading of vicious rumours. So Tomoyo seethed in silence and solitude, locked in her room.  
Forty five minutes later, the stomping finally comes to a stop.  
  
**********  
  
"Hello, Daidouji-san."  
"Hiiragizawa-kun? What are you doing here?" Tomoyo stared in shock at the boy on the other side of the threshold.  
"Sakura-san's told me that your having some room–"  
Tomoyo slammed her hand over his mouth and glanced behind her, up the stairs. The sounds of a door slamming and a white board falling off the wall from the impact greeted her ears. She winced.  
"I see," was all Eriol said.  
"Why don't you come in," she sighed, leading him up the stairs and directly into her bedroom. She'd have sat with him in the living room, but Val just got angrier whenever she went in there. She had pointedly moved anything belonging to Tomoyo into Tomoyo's bedroom one day while she had been at school. Despite the size of her bedroom, it was inordinately crowded. Once they were in her room and the door was closed, she immediately turned on some music, not too loud, but enough to drown out their conversation.  
"Please don't get involved in this, Hiiragizawa-kun," she pleaded with him.  
"But she's making your life miserable. And for no good reason, either. It's not right."  
She was surprised by the caring she heard in his voice. She hadn't expected him to care whether or not she was happy or not. She figured he was just here for the mischief he could cause.  
"It doesn't matter if it's right or not. That's just how it is," she said, her eyes starting to brim with tears; tears of pain, tears of frustration, tears of anger, tears of despair. She shook her head, trying to stop them from falling. It was stupid to cry over this. She was quite sure that there were people out there with far worse problems than her. Then why does it feel like the end of the world to me?  
Seeing the girls eyes brim with tears, Eriol felt something move inside of him, he hurt, because the girl in front of him was hurting. He opened his arms to her, and she fell into them. It was as though something inside of her had broken. She felt the sobs rise in her throat and rack her body. Eriol just held her tighter while she poured out all the pent up rage and frustration and helplessness. He manoeuvered them over to her bed in the corner of the room, where he sat down and she curled up in his lap.  
After some time, her sobs quieted somewhat. Eriol noticed that she had fallen asleep. He felt exhausted too, as though the torrential downpour of emotions from Tomoyo had somehow drained him as well. He laid down on the bed, Tomoyo still wrapped in his arms, and pulled the wool blanket on the end of the bed over them. Soon, he too was asleep.  
  
**********  
  
In his dream, Eriol was in a vast field. In the middle of it, there was a tree, and at the base of it, sat a girl with long black hair, and beautiful blue eyes; blue eyes that were filled with tears as she read something from a book.  
"What is that, Tomoyo-chan?" he asked her, approaching the tree. She did not seem to notice that he called her be her first name.  
"It's the book that I got signed by my friends from university in first year," she answered sadly.  
"Why would that make you cry?" he asked, not understanding.  
She simply handed him the book. He began to read the page she was on.  
  
_Tomoyo,  
Well, we made it through 1st year. Dear God! Now I'm living with you! What was I thinking? ::grin:: It's going to be a blast together though, we're too crazy. This could be dangerous! Anyway, you've been a great friend, first helping me survive Latin, then that god awful Germanic history class! Have a great summer, we'll figure out this furniture stuff sometime soon and I'll see you next September.  
xoxo  
Luv Always  
Val_  
  
Eriol understood now. He understood why she hurt so much when her roommate was mean to her. He understood why it hurt her that she was being shut out and ignored. Tomoyo felt betrayed by someone she had considered a good friend. Someone she had trusted with things she had never told anybody. And now, her roommate was taking all these confidences, and using them to systematically destroy everything that made Tomoyo who she was.  
  
***********  
  
When Tomoyo woke up the next morning, she felt better than she had in months. She was surprised to see Eriol still curled up next to her, his arms around her waist. She smiled, remembering her dream. He understood now. There wasn't anything he could do to help, but at least he understood. Sometimes, feeling that someone truly understands you is the best feeling in the world. For Tomoyo, it would be this mutual understanding and support which would get her through the next four months with her sanity still in tact. But the scars of betrayal would always be there, she knew. Trust would take time. Even for Eriol.  
  
**Finis?**  
  
I might be persuaded to write either a sequel or another chapter if the interest is there. I don't know if the story is really all that good. For me, it was just something that I needed to get off my chest. Replace Tomoyo with me, minus anything to do with Eriol and you have my current living situation.  
By the way...just to clarify, Maalox is the stuff that...uh...helps you go to the bathroom...a lot. It kinda looks like milk. Blame my best friend for the idea!! She came up with it! ::grin::  
** cutegatomon@lycos.com **


	2. Nothing changes...

author's note: hey everyone...thanx for the great reviews...I hadn't really intended on making this a chapter fic...but what the heck...the hell my roomate is putting me through is ample inspiration...as i've mentioned in chapter 1...take everything to do with Eriol out and then you place me in Tomoyo's shoes, and there's my current living situation...::sighs:: only four months left....   
  
Disclaimer: Yeah yah...we all know by now that the characters don't belong to any of us crazy fic writers...if you try to sue...I'll sic Valerie on you!!! hehehehe  
  
  
**Understanding ~ part 2**   
_ Why do I bother? What is the point? It doesn't matter what you think, nobody cares. Not even Eriol._  
Tomoyo sat on her bed, stuck in a dark place, did not even feel the tear which rolled down her cheek. She didn't know why she felt so sad, but it didn't really bother her, because she didn't really feel like being happy, either. The weather outside seemed understand her mood, as dark clouds loomed low in the sky.  
She had returned home from university for Christmas, and though she was glad to be away from Valerie, she just couldn't bring herself to be truly happy.  
"What's wrong with me?" she asked herself aloud, her head in her hands.  
"Have you ever considered that it's not you, who are wrong?"  
"Eriol?! How did you get in here?" Tomoyo looked up in shock, but the shock soon was replaced by anger, anger that he should have been eavesdropping, that he should have seen her in her moment of weakness. "Leave me alone," she hissed, turning her back on him to look out the window.  
"Is that what you really want?"  
"Yes," she replied quietly, surprised that this was indeed the truth, "I want to be alone."  
"She's far away right now. Why do you still let her hurt you?" he asked, walking towards the bed, despite Tomoyo's desire to be alone.  
"What's it to you? What do you care, all of a sudden?" she glared at him, tears forming in her eyes. He'd left, three years ago, he'd left, and she'd been alone. _Why won't you just let me be alone?_  
"I'll be honest," he replied, a sad smile on his face, "I'm not entirely sure why I'm here, but–" he paused, tilting her chin up to look him in the eyes, "something told me that, right now, what you needed was a friend, and despite what you may think, I never stopped being yours."  
"_Desperate, for something to touch. A moment of kindness, like that in a dream_," she sang quietly, backing away from Eriol, huddling against the wall, as though it could possibly save her.  
"Why do you still sing that? It hurts you more than it does me," he sat on the edge of her bed, slowly edging towards her huddled form, like one would an injured animal.  
"Because," she whispered on a sob, "I don't want to be happy. I don't know how anymore. Val was right, I'm not worth the ground on which I sit."  
Eriol's expression hardened at the name. _Val._ Always that heartless monster, destroying everything around her in order to give her own miserable self a sense of power. She should be happy that she has such an effect on Tomoyo. "You're letting her win," he said aloud, sliding his hand up and down her back, in an attempt to comfort the girl.  
"So what if I am. Maybe I don't want to fight anymore," she said, finally letting her misery overwhelm her, turning to Eriol and sobbing into his lap.  
_This stops now_, Eriol decided, his anger towards Valerie reaching a new peak.  
  
******  
  
"Why are you doing this to Tomoyo? What did she ever do to you?" Eriol said, carefully keeping his voice level.  
"She exists. That's enough. And because I can," Valerie answered with her quietly smug voice, that same voice by which its very design was meant to convey just how self-confident the girl was, even when she wasn't. It was with this same voice that she had stared down many an adversary. This voice which says 'I am all and know all and you are nothing, not even worth that I should waste my breath on you.'  
"You're a real bitch," he seethed, still struggling to keep his tone even.  
"I know," she smiled smugly, enjoying that she should have such control over anyone.  
"You are also slowly destroying yourself, as much as Tomoyo. People aren't stupid and nobody buys your innocent act. They aren't blind."  
Valerie did not deem him worthy of a answer after that, she merely turned on her heel and walked away, slamming the door behind her.  
"Checkmate," Eriol smiled sadly to himself. He may have won this one, but on some level, he knew that things were about to get a whole lot worse for Tomoyo now.  
  
*******  
  
_ "Aren't you cute?!" Tomoyo looked at the kitten in her arms, bringing it up the steps to her room. The pot-heads downstairs had adopted it, and she thought that maybe she should rescue it from the pot-fumes for a little while. She knocked on Valerie's door, certain that the girl would think it cute as well, last she remembered, Val liked cats.  
Not having gotten an answer, she knocked again, "Val?"   
She knew that she was in there, the music was playing. Slowly she cracked open the door and peaked in. "Val?"  
Her roommate was jumping rope in the middle of her room, she turned to glare at Tomoyo as she entered the room. Tomoyo ignored the glare and showed her the kitten.  
"Isn't she cute?" she asked, smiling brightly.  
Val glared for a long time, seriously considering just ignoring the nuisance in her room until she finally took the hint and left, but Tomoyo seemed to be indifferent to the glaring. Finally, she answered, "No," and started looping the rope around her hands.  
Feeling thoroughly uncomfortable, Tomoyo backed out of the room, joking "Maybe I should just leave, before you decide to beat me with your rope."  
Valerie raised an eyebrow and began to swing the rope, "Yes, maybe you should," her voice was deadly serious. Tomoyo was barely clear of the door jamb when the door slammed behind her, with such force as to knock the white board off unto Tomoyo's head.  
  
_*******  
  
Tomoyo's eyes watered at the memory. _Why Val? What happened? I thought we were friends..._  
Tomoyo shook her head to clear the memory. She was exhausted from the long drive back to her apartment and university. Eight hours on the road, but she was almost there. She was, somewhere in the back of her mind, dreading what she would find when she returned. _Would Val have changed the locks? Would she have destroyed her stuff? _  
Finally, pulling into her driveway, she immediately went upstairs to see. Much to her relief, nothing seemed disturbed. All was as it should have been. _Maybe I'm making a bigger deal out of this then it really is, she thought to herself, Christmas will help fix this, I know it will. Everything will be okei._  
Everything remained peaceful for the next couple of days. Tomoyo continued looking for an apartment for the next school year, a single room. She wished to be alone, to have something that was truly hers, where she didn't answer to anyone. But when she returned home from going to visit one of the apartments, she found that Val was back.  
"Hi! How was your Christmas?" she asked cheerfully.  
Val, not even looking at the other girl replied flatly, "Fine."  
Immediately, Tomoyo's heart sank. Nothing had changed, Val was still the same. Looking around the kitchen, she noticed that the dolphin magnet she had received from her mother at Christmas had been taken off the fridge. She picked it up and defiantly placed it back on, turning to glare at Val, "I don't see how this is hurting anyone by being there."  
Val merely glared at her. Tomoyo calmly walked back to her bedroom and gently closed the door. But once inside the sanctity of her domain, she fell to her bed and began sobbing. _Why?!_ she thought to herself, w_hat did I do? Why does she have to be so hateful?!_  
_"Have you ever thought that maybe it isn't you who's wrong?"_ Eriol's voice echoed through her mind.  
"No," she answered bitterly to the air, "it has to be me, that's why everybody hates me."  
_"I don't hate you,"_ the voice whispered.  
  
--------  
  
That's it for now folks...Val's only been home for an hour...give her a week and I'm sure I'll have a whole whack of chapters to go up....  
  
Wintersama  



	3. Fury

Understanding - Chapter 3

For Tomoyo, the next four months would represent probably some of the hardest of her entire life. Within 24 hours of having returned from Christmas vacation, Val had managed to reduce the girl to tears. When she had returned home that evening, she found a note waiting for on Val's door and her paintings lying on the floor, scuffed and for all intents and purposes, detroyed.

Tomoyo knelt down in front of the painting, cradling the sum of all her hard work, which now lay destroyed at the hands of her roomate. Looking up at the door, she forced herself to read the note on her door.

__

Bitch, get you're crap out of my sight, and quit stinking up the place. I hate you and I hope you die.

The Management.

That was the last straw for Tomoyo. The rage and hatred that she felt were incredible. She was furious. Not even bothering t o knock, she stormed into Val's bedroom, to be greeted with one of the smugest looks she had ever met. The shock of seeing the sheer pride on Val's face made Tomoyo hesitate, but the fury quickly returned.

What happened next would forever be a blur to Tomoyo, she remembered reaching the bed and reaching out to strangle the smug look off of Val's face, but everything afterwards was a blur. When she woke up, she found herself lying on her bed, her breath catching as she tried to sit up and was assailed by pain. Collapsing back onto the bed, Tomoyo began to survey what damage she could see without moving too much. Her arms, from wrists to shoulders were covered by a series of scratches, some deeper than others, and she noticed that her fingers were bleeding where two of her fingernails appeared to have been torn off. Considering the condition of her arms, Tomoyo was hesitant to finish her survey. Turning her head, she saw that the cordless phone was not far away from her head. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Tomoyo reached for the phone and dialed the number, which, just recently, she had learned by heart.

"Hello??"

"Eriol?" she rasped out through cracked lips. _How long have I been here?_ she wondered.

Eriol ears picked up, obviously something was wrong and he was extremely worried. He'd been surprised that Tomoyo had called, he hadn't heard from her in at least 2 days.

"Tomoyo? What's wrong? Is it Val again?" he nearly shouted in his mounting concern.

Hearing the concern in his voice, Tomoyo felt tears gathering in her eyes.

"Eriol?" she began, her voice hitching on her restrained sobs, "I need you..." she finished in a whisper, not even certain that he had heard her. Slowly, she felt darkness taking over again.

Eriol was in a panic. He had never heard Tomoyo sound like this, and when she suddenly disconnected the phone, Eriol knew he had to get to her, and the quickest way possible. He did not even hesitate to use his magic to transport himself directly to her bedroom, but the sight which greeted him was far worse than anything he could have ever imagined.

Tomoyo's room looked like a hurricane had gone through it, on the floor in front of her bed, were two of her paintings, scuffed nearly beyond recognition, though Eriol immediatly recognized them, as she had been so proud of the two works of art. 

But the state Tomoyo herself was in was far worse than the room. Her shirt was caked with blood, and her face was so bruised and swollen that you could hardly make out her features. Her arms were covered with bruises, cuts and scrapes. Eriol didn't even want to think about what sort of injuries might lay beneath the surface. As he approached the bed, he was able to discern the slight rise and fall of her chest, and he sighed in relief, _At least she's alive_, he thought with relief.

"Barely," he muttered bitterly.

"E--eri--??"

Eriol all but ran the remaining distance to the bed as the broken girl on it was caught up in a coughing fit.

"Shhhh....Tomoyo, it's okei...I'm here...." he whispered soothingly, trying to touch the girl to comfort her without causing more physical pain to her broken body.

"Eriol...it..it hurts...." she rasped through cracked lips, her body shaking with unreleased sobs.

"Listen to me, Tomoyo, we need to get you to the hospital, you're badly hurt and---"

"No,"she grated between teeth, trying to sit up, but collapsing in a ball of pain on the bed, "people die in hospitals...people die there...no...." she whimpered.

Eriol sighed in defeat, heading to the bathroom for a washcloth and the first aid kit, although he knew in the back of his mind that Tomoyo needed a lot more than could come out a mere first aid kit. On the way, he noticed the rest of the apartment for the first time. He thought that Tomoyo's room had looked bad, it was nothing compared to the living room and kitchen. He paused momentarily on the way back, and it was then that he noticed it. The only things that were broken were things that belonged to Tomoyo. Never before in his life had he been filled with such fury, he thought he would explode from the force of it. 

_That. Is. The. Very. Last. Straw !!_ He felt his magic building until it was a flame of blue fury surrounding his entire body, expanding until he heard a scream from the other room.

"What are you!?!" Val shrieked at him, coming out of her room, throwing whatever her hands came across at him. They were all burned up harmlessly by the magic surrounding his body, which grew even more as his rage increased.

"You bitch," he gritted out through clenched teeth, "I warned you. This time you've gone too far!!"

The flames around Eriol burst forth, filling the entire apartment with their rage.

End of Chapter 3

Author's note: all right, so as we can tell, we're starting to deviate from reality. The long and short of it is that she made my remaining four months a living hell of misery wherein I was not permitted to use any of the apartment save my bedroom and the bathroom, though I definitely got my revenge, no needs for worries there. This, however, is what would've been nice to have happened to her. Hey!! They burned witches in the middle ages, if it worked then, why not now?

Hehehehe….

Ciao

Winter-sama

Review pls!!


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